Method and apparatus for setting screens



Nov. 22, 1932. s, E. MANNING METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SETTING SCREENS Filed Feb. 13, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet S E. MANNING METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SETTING SCREENS Nov. 22, 1932.

Filed Feb. 15, 1930 2Sheets-Sheet .l au

mmw% Patented Nov. 1932 UNITED STATES SANFORD E. MANNING, OI HOUSTON, TEXAS HTHOD APPARATUS FOR SETTING SCREENS Application filed February 18, 1980. Serial No. 428,009.

6 a well bore filled with fluid and said fluid maintained under pressure during the setting operation to maintain the walls of the bore. The apparatus may be employed very effectively particularly in cases where there is internal gas pressure to be overcome in the Welland also in wells which pierce heaving shale formations, or other similar formations, havin a tendency 'to cave and which must be maintained against caving, during the setting operation, by maintaining the fluid in the well under pressure until the screen is set.

The invention also comprehends a novel method involved in the art of setting well screens while maintaining the walls of the well bore against caving either as a' result of internal gas pressure or as a. result of the character of the wallformation.

With the above and other objects in view this invention has particular relation to a certain novel method, and to a novel apparatus for carrying said method, or process into effect, an example of all of'which is described in this specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein,:

Figure 1 shows a side view of the apparatus, partly broken away. I

Figure 2 shows a fragmentary vertical sectional view thereof, showing the screen being lowered. c

Figure 3 shows a fragmentary side elevation, partly in section, of a hanger rod employed Figure 4 shows a fragmentary vertical sectional view shown in position, for coupling in another section of the screen, and Figure 5 shows a vertical sectional view of a packed, or plugged, well screen that may be used'in carrying out the method.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, wherein like numerals of reference designate similar parts in each of the figures, the numeral 1 designates a casing in a well bore. When oil bearing strata are pierced beneath this casing, in completing the well, a

screen, as 2, must be set in the bore opposite such producing strata and a seal formed between the lower end of the casing and the screen. The method and apparatus herein described will usually be employed in wells having strong internal gas pressure and/or walls of a nature to readily cave in, such as heaving shale.

Attached to the casing, preferably above the derrick floor 3, are blowout preventers 4, 4, of any selected type. hese preventers are spaced thedesired dis ance apart, one above the other. Each preventer is of such construction that it may be closed about an inner pipe, the screen 2 in the present instance, to completely close the space between I the casing and such inner pipe; or may be opened to permit the inner pipe, or screen, and its external couplings, as 5, to pass downwardly therethrough.

In case the well develops strong internal gas pressure and/or the walls of the bore'beneath the casing are of caving formation the well should be filled, and kept filled, during the screen setting operation, with fluid, preferably heavy mud-laden fluid, under pressure.

In order to supply this fluid, and to maintain the same under pressure, the casing 1 is provided, beneath the derrick floor, with a T connection 6 into which a pump (not shown) may be connected; and beneath this connection the casing 1 is equipped with a gate valve 7 When drilling is completed the'drill stem and drilling tool may be withdrawn. During this withdrawal of said stem and tool the blowout preventers will be employed to maintain the pressure in the well. When a drill stem coupling reaches the lower blowout preventer 4 said preventer will be opened to permit said coupling to pass on up through it and then closed and the upper blowout preventer will then be opened to permit the coupling to pass above it and said upper preventer is then closed-and one, or the other, or both of said preventers are thus at all times used to maintain the pressure in the well. When the drilling tool is elevated to 'a point above the valve 7 the pressure of the fluid in the well may be increased and said valve then closed to maintain such'pressure while the drilling tool is being withdrawn through the blowout preventers and the screen is being coupled up and lowered through such preventers.

After the valve 7 is closed the preventers may both be opened and the drilling tool withdrawn and the screen then started into the well through said preventers.

If desired, the screen may be packed with wet sand, or other similar removable aggre' gate, as shown in Figure 5. This screen, so packed, may then be let down into the casing with both blowout preventers 4 closed and the valve 7 opened. The sand or other filler in the screen will prevent the pressure in the well from escaping into the screen and up therethrough and out above the blowout preventers. In lowering the screen when it is desired to pass a collar through the blowout preventers the upper preventer only may be opened and the collar passed through it and said upper preventer then closed and the lower preventer opened to permit the collar to pass on down and after the collar has passed beneath the lower preventer both preventers are maintained in. closed position until it becomes necessary to pass another collartherethrough. The screen may thus be lowered into the well and set in the oil bearing strata, meanwhile maintaining the walls of the well by the pressure of the fluid therein. When the screen is set it may be packed, in the conventional manner and the setting string of pipe detached and withdrawn and the sand washed out of the screen and the well is then complete and ready for production.

Other means may be provided for the purpose of preventing the pressure in the well from escaping through the screen.

Such other means are shown in Figures 1 i to 4, wherein a long plug, as 8, is provided.

This plug is preferably formed of rubber, or similar material and fits closely within the screen and is of such length that it will extend through both preventers 4, as shown in Figure 2. The plug 8 is maintained in position by means of a hanger rod 9 which 1s suspended from any suitable anchor 10 of the derrick 11, and which has a universal connection with said crown block.

This hanger rod 9 is formed of sections which are connected to ether, above the plug 8 by means of a suita le flanged union 12. The hanger rod 9 is of the required length to maintain the plug 8 in the screen 2 opposite both blowout preventers. The lower end of the plug 8 is of cup shape as at 8', so that the internal pressure in the well will hold the lower end of said plug tightly against the inside of the screen so as to prevent leakage up 'between the plug and screen.

When the well is drilled and it is desired to set screen therein the valve 7 may be closed as hereinabove explained, to tempo-' rarily prevent the decrease of pressure in the well and before said valve is closed the fluid in the well may be placed under excess pressure, if desired, so that'the walls of the well will be maintained by the pressure, even though there should be a certain amount of escape of pressure fluid while the screen is beingeassembled and started into the casing. When said valve 7 is closed and the drilling tool removed as hereinabove explained, the preventers 4, 4 may be opened and the bottom joint, or section, of the screen inserted through said preventers and the hanger rod 9 with the plug 8 attached thereto, then inserted downwardly through the screen section and the hanger rod 9 then be connected up to the crown block 10. The blowout preventers may then be closed around the screen and the valve 7 opened to permit the screen to pass downwardly through the-casing and the internal pressure in the well will be maintained or prevented from escaping by the plug 8 and the blowout preventers.

When the screen has been lowered to such position that it becomes necessary to add another section to the upper end thereof, as shown in Figure 4, the lock pins 13 may be inserted through suitable openings 14 in the upper end of the section and into aligned recesses in the metal ferrule 15 around the upper end of the plug 8. The upper section of the hanger rod 9 may then be disconnected and swung to one side-and the pins 13 will hold the plug 8 in position and the pressure in the well will be thus maintained. An additional section of the screen may then be telescoped over said hanger rod and the assembly then swung back over the well, as shown in Figure 4, and the sections of the rod 9 may be re connected and the additional section of the screen screwed pn the upper end of the string in the well. The screen may thus be lowered a section at a time and when a sufficient amount of screen has been connected up, the connected sections may be lowered into the well by the usual setting string of pipe. When the screen is set in the well at the desired place, the usual packer may be set between the upper end of the screen and the lower end of the casing in the usual way either before or after opening the blowout preventers and relieving the pressurelin the well. The screen will thus be set in the bore while the walls of the bore, having a tendency to cave in, are maintained in position and pre- .vented from caving, by the internal pressure in the well and after the setting'of the screen the well may then be brought in and handled in the usual way.-

If the type of screen disclosed in Figure 5 is employed, the plug and hanger rod-9 will be dispensed with, and if said plug and III hanger red are employed in the well it is ob- I vious that the screen will not be packed with sand or other filler, as one of these forms for maintaining the pressure in the well while lowering the screen through the blow out preventers may be used in substitution for the other. In either case after the screen has passed down beneath the blow out prcventers blank pipe is then connectedinto the string, as above explained, forming the screen setting string, hereinabove referred to. The plug 8, in the one'case, and the wet sand, in the other, however prevent the internal pressure in the well from passin up through the screen and/or setting string and escaping from the well during the settin operation.

The drawings and description disclose what are now considered referred forms of the invention by way 0 illustration only, while the broad principle of the invention will be defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In well drilling operations the method of setting screen and completing a well which consists in lowering a well screen into the well bore which contains fluid, excluding the inflow of fluid into the screen and meanwhile maintaining said fluid under pressure.

2. The combination with a casing in a well bore of an inner screen pipe adapted to be lowered into the bore through said casing,

means for forming a seal between said casing and pipe, means for supplying fluid, under pressure, into said bore, said sealing means being formed to permit the pipe to descend therethrough and means located in the pipe and which cooperates with said sealing means to prevent the escape of pressure from the well while the inner pipe is being lowered.

3. In combination, a casing in a well bore, a screen pipe adapted to be lowered, through the casing, into the bore, means for forming a seal between the casing and screen pipe, means in the screen pipe arranged to cooperate with said sealing means to prevent the escape of fluid, under pressure, from the well.

4. In combination, a casing in a well bore, a screen pipe adapted to be lowered, through the casing, into the bore, means for forming a seal between the casing and screen pipe, means in the screen pipe arranged to cooperate with said sealing means to prevent the escape of fluid, under pressure, from the well, said sealing means being effective to permit the screen pipe to descend therethrough while maintaining said fluid under pressure.

5. The combination with a casing set in a well bore and an inner screenpipe-to be lowered into said bore, through the casing, a pair of blow out preventers associated with the upper end of the casing and spaced apart and adapted to permit the downward movement of the innerpipe therethrough while forming a substantially fluid tight joint between said casing and pipe, and means located in said inner pipe and which cooperates with said ing said fluid in the bore under pressure then washing said aggregate from the screen after the screen is set.

1 In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this s ecification.

' ANFORD E. MANNING;

blow out preventers to substantially prevent 

